ScreenPlay Playtest Report (Week 2)

Work on ScreenPlay: The Rehearsal Edition (and therefore it’s final version due out for next year) has picked up the pace. While the number of playtesters has only increased by a small amount, the amount of feedback has jumped exponentially. This means work on Version 1.3 will see a large increase in page counts as we work on not only touching up some of the existing mechanics (particularly with complications, a component always considered the trickiest piece of the puzzle) but adding on new ones. Let’s break it down with the bullet points.

Starting off with the best news of the past week, the playtesters have unlocked the next ScreenPlay treatment. Nightfall is a modern day superhero/masked vigilante story with a twist on the standard genre: what if there was more than one person behind the mask? And what if someone learned this secret and started trying to eliminate them one-by-one? For a special preview of this second playtest adventure, check out the brand new Nightfall page and watch for it in Version 1.3.

Speaking of unlockables, we’re now past 20 total playtest points handed out with one playtester already rocking 8 of those for himself. Our new unlocked treatment will be Escape From The X, a sci-fi/horror story set in the Mercenary Breed setting by our publisher, Mystical Throne Entertainment. You can learn more about it on our Playtest Points page.

This past week, the very first game not played by anyone directly affiliated with Broken Ruler Games. A group of Writers and a Director took on the challenge of joining the Ironbound and the results were incredibly positive. Plus we’ve already received a Writer’s and Director’s Survey from this group with an average score of 5 out of 5.

If you’re read through The Rehearsal Edition but haven’t joined the G+ community, you’re missing out on some vital discussions. One of them involved bringing up old ideas and breathing new life into a concept of character flaws, be they moral, social, or what have you. Thanks to this discussion, Version 1.3 will include a new section on motivations and hindrances, including mechanics on how they can bring you milestones to help move the story and your characters forward.

Characters will be able to create advantages, special bonuses you can introduce in a scene by sacrificing Stamina to activate and applying details to maintain.

Minor revisions have been made to resources, such as how many can be applied at a time and for which reasons.

This weekend will be dedicated to finalizing the updates to Version 1.3 of the Rehearsal Edition. Expect to see it updated to your RPGNow/DriveThruRPG account by the middle of next week.